{"id":236,"date":"2012-08-23T11:22:52","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T16:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=236"},"modified":"2012-10-25T11:26:03","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T16:26:03","slug":"love-and-forgivness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=236","title":{"rendered":"Love and Forgivness"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thursday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time<\/o:o:p><\/span><\/h1>\n

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Ezekiel 36: 23-28: 31-34; Mt 22: 1-14<\/span><\/h3>\n

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By Deacon Larry Brockman<\/span><\/h1>\n

Love and forgiveness!\u00a0 <\/span>Isn\u2019t it amazing how much Love God has for us, and how far He is willing to go in forgiving us.\u00a0 <\/span>The Israeli people ignored the prophets over and over again; ignoring God\u2019s commandments; worshiping false gods; and doing wrong in the sight of the Lord.\u00a0 <\/span>And the consequences of their actions were the defeat and exile of the Jewish people.\u00a0 <\/span>It was humiliating for them; but it was even more of an insult to their God, because the Lord was the one true God; all powerful and loving.\u00a0 <\/span>He had delivered His people from trials; but could not deliver them from themselves and their own evil.\u00a0 <\/span>They had to meet him part of the way- they had to at least try to follow His example.\u00a0 <\/span>And so, as Ezekiel says, the Israelis had profaned His name; they had turned their back on the legacy of salvation.\u00a0 <\/span>Even so, the Lord swept them from wherever they were exiled, and reestablished the Israeli Kingdom.\u00a0 <\/span>He gave them yet another chance, such was His love and forgiveness for His people.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Jesus parable is a story about love and forgiveness as well.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus talks about a King who invites his people to a joyful and festive celebration- not strangers, but his own people.\u00a0 <\/span>But they ignored him; turned their backs on him; and went about their own business. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>And that is not all.\u00a0 <\/span>The king sends a second set of messengers to the people.\u00a0 <\/span>As a loving king, he is willing to forgive them of their selfishness and invite them a second time.\u00a0 <\/span>But his messengers are treated all the worse.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Now of those who did come to the party, there were some who half-heartedly responded to the king.\u00a0 <\/span>They came, but they came on their terms.\u00a0 <\/span>It was a special celebration to the king; but these few didn\u2019t see it that way.\u00a0 <\/span>They didn\u2019t even bother to dress to the occasion.\u00a0 <\/span>And so, there are limits to the love and forgiveness of God.\u00a0 <\/span>God\u2019s love is unconditional; but it is not unlimited.\u00a0 <\/span>Ultimately, God\u2019s offer to love and to forgive us is limited by our need to respond, to reciprocate, to recognize that God\u2019s will is primary and our will must be secondary.<\/font><\/p>\n

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One of the worst pains that we suffer in this world is unrequited love; love that you have for someone else, but it is not returned.\u00a0 <\/span>Can you sense that kind of pain in the King in the parable?\u00a0 <\/span>I certainly can.\u00a0 <\/span>And while God is limitless and infinite; He cannot supply both parts of a two way relationship.\u00a0 <\/span>And so, by definition, His love and forgiveness have to be limited.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Today we would do well to reflect on these aspects of our relationship with God.\u00a0 <\/span>Are there areas where you and I are not meeting God at all?\u00a0 <\/span>Is there a wall between you and God that has been constructed by your own will in some area- some area where you don\u2019t ask for forgiveness, don\u2019t admit to your sinfulness, or don\u2019t share your love; perhaps because of pride, preoccupation with our own agenda, or lust for things or power?\u00a0 <\/span>Are there areas where you don\u2019t let God in, and don\u2019t respond to His invitation.\u00a0 <\/span>If there are, remember Jesus\u2019 parting words: \u201cmany are called, but few are chosen\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

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Thursday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time Ezekiel 36: 23-28: 31-34; Mt 22: 1-14 By Deacon Larry Brockman Love and forgiveness!\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it amazing how much Love God has for us, and how far He is willing to go in forgiving us.\u00a0 The Israeli people ignored the prophets over and over again; ignoring God\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[163],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}